It's an unlikely move for Hardej, whose only experience working in agriculture was tending to her grandmother's farm in Europe as a child.

The interior designer-turned-mortgage broker spent 15 years as a mortgage broker until the financial collapse of 2008: "My world crashed," she says.

Hardej started reading books and attending seminars on vertical farming, a kind of urban farming that saves space by growing crops in flat beds stacked on top of each other, typically inside tall buildings.

A $100,000 loan from Whole Foods helped Hardej get her own vertical farm off the ground. The plants in her farm grow without soil, instead using mineral-rich water that comes from tanks filled with tilapia fish.

FarmedHere currently grows various types of basil and arugula, but has plans to experiment with other vegetables in the future.